Management in SEA Esports.

NOTE: As per my usual lazy self, I haven’t  proofread, I merely wrote this out in one go cold. Forgive any repetitive use of language or syntactical errors.

In the following piece I hope to shine a light upon the darker, more enigmatic, side of E-sports. Many people in the pleb sc2 community (i.e. those that are neither professional player, caster nor manager) hold sponsored teams and their affiliates as people beyond inspection. Too many times have I seen legitimate criticism of a SEA team’s management twisted and directed towards the very person raising the issue. I believe this is the case because of the esteem the community holds E-sports organisations. The blind acceptance of titles in SEA is frightening, people labelled as “Manager of X E-Sports team” overnight become viewed with an apparent air of competency, sophistication and intelligence purely because “hey, nobody incompetent or duplicitous could get themselves sponsored by a name brand like Gigabyte or Tt right?”

So wrong. So very wrong.

I have managed two Australian “E-sports” Starcraft II divisions and neither experience was a positive one (to be fair, the first experience was an absolute joke, the latter, not so bad). I am the first to admit my ignorance when I was duped into joining a team which offered a lot (flights, jerseys, discounts on sponsor products, partial accommodation fees etc.) but ultimately was all talk. In my naivety I wasted months of my time, and months of my friends time, who I had brought over to the team. In the end we all left with a bitter taste in our mouths. Let me tell you know, don’t believe the pomp and bombast of Australian E-sports teams, 95% of them are bogus and carry around no weight except for the HTML on their website. Openly lying about sponsors (e.g. putting major companies on their website as sponsors when in fact THEY WERE NOT), lying about offers, lying about pretty much everything is not an impossibility. I have no idea why people do this, I for one would instantly step back if I found myself out of my depth, but apparently there are less honest (and more insidious) people than I in SEA E-sports.

Because brevity has never been my strong suit, I will offer a list of points which I think will better the SEA community. Too many people perceive “teams” an infallible. REMEMBER, they are run by people just like you and me, we are all mammals and nothing is different because you have a fancy prefix before your name. If I have anything to learn from my experience it is to mistrust ANYBODY with a team prefix and then treat them with the utmost suspicion.

Things to know as a manager.

• You are the middle man between your players and the organisation. It is your responsibility to make sure the team delivers on its promises and the players on theirs.
• A contract is a written document with signatures, dates, and mutual benefits which both parties must agree upon. Just because somebody tells you “you are on contract now” doesn’t mean you are actually on contract (SAME APPLIES TO PLAYERS).
• Be active within your organisation, know who the managers of the other teams are. Keep in contact with them, see how they feel the organisation treats them (some orgs have a bias towards certain game genres).
• If the team you are on is frequently dropping / adding a lot of teams (or has an inordinate number of teams signed) be wary, this is often a sign of “quantity” not “quality” and may reflect management.
• If you aren’t getting answers to your questions or requests from higher management, do not be intimidated by buzz words or snide responses. If people in the organisation take business personally then they probably aren’t going to be very good at what they do. Don’t be afraid to go barking up trees, sometimes jimmies need to be rustled. Indolence often rules king amongst people who believe themselves “privileged” or “special”.
• Sort out of a concrete budget or deal which details how your team members will be financed / funded. Set it in stone, jot it down in a notepad file if you have to.
• Be honest with your players, don’t lie to them or extort them.
• Do not be impressed by people naming themselves “CEO”. This is meaningless and often points towards an inferiority complex.
• Find out where the team is getting its funding from, is it funded by the owner? Do sponsors actually fund it (this is rare in SEA, contrary to popular belief)? If so, how much do they give and on what basis? What return do they expect?
• Form a personal bond with your players, don’t be a superficial suit.
• Business is business. Don’t take things personally. Apply this standard to your superiors and your players as well.

Things to know as a player on a team.

• Remember, you are more important to the team than the team is to you. Never forget this.
• Ensure your manager keeps on top of things, sometimes they get swamped or lazy, don’t be afraid to ask questions or pester them. Managers should have the dates of upcoming tournaments in their heads, they should know about upcoming clan wars, shipping of gear, how it’s getting to you etc. etc.
• Please don’t be entitled. Sometimes a team won’t give you anything until you have “proven” yourself. That being said, figure out objective criterion for what “proven” means or else you may find yourself perpetually chasing an impossible standard.

Things to know as a plebeian.

• Teams with sponsors are not much different from clans. They are not perfect, they are not run by super intelligent pr0gam3rz. They are often run by people just like you with full time jobs and some money on the side to spare.
• If some kind of intra-team drama becomes public, don’t immediately jump to the side of the team staff or the whistle blower (or w/e you call them). Suspend judgement, wait for the facts, then make up your mind.

 

In summary, the problems in most teams stem from people with accentuated superiority/inferiority complexes who just want a name in their given community without having to really do anything except “have money on the side”. Indolence and incompetence are also common. I have only come across a couple of cases where team managers / organisations maliciously try to exploit their players, this is rare but it DOES happen.

Teams often sell you on their ideas and not their achievements / substance , too often do these organisations have grandiose goals they want to achieve by a certain time frame and too often do these goals conveniently not work out due to some “unforseen circumstance” or “unfortunate event”. Be wary if this becomes repetitive.

Please note my opinions and thoughts here are not indicative of the entire SEA scene. There will always be bad eggs but for whatever reason particularly rotten ones continue to exist without being called out on incompetence and inadequacy. My shout outs to managers and players on teams which are responsible and hold themselves accountable for their actions. Keep doing what you are doing.
Criticism is welcome, if you have anything you think I missed out and should mention, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or message me on twitter @DoMoAU.

If you ever find yourself approached to manage an E-sports team and hav any questions, feel free to contact me or another manager in SEA, often it is good to get an experienced perspective. I wish I had done this before I joined my first team.